Abolition Institute co-signs letter with Freedom House urging Secretary of State John Kerry to reconsider Mauritania's eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act in light of ongoing human rights abuses. Follow this link for full text of the letter.

August 25, 2015: Abolition Institute and others call upon United Nations to act on Mauritanian human rights issues:

To the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,To the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance,To the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders,To the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association,

We, international organizations supporting the anti-slavery movement in Mauritania, are writing to call for concerted action from the UN human rights community after the conviction of three Mauritanian human rights activists was upheld on appeal on August 20, 2015. Biram Dah Abeid, Brahim Bilal Ramdhane (President and Vice-President of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement) and Djiby Sow (President of Kawtal) were initially convicted on January 15, 2015, after leading a peaceful campaign against slavery and for land reform in favour of disadvantaged groups in Mauritania. Their ‘crimes’ were “inciting rebellion”, “disobeying the orders of the authorities” and (for IRA) “belonging to an illegal organization”. Their conviction prompted a national and global outcry; one response was an Avaaz petition signed by nearly one million people from around the world.

Within two months the activists were transferred to an isolated unit of a prison in the remote town of Aleg, where their appeal was held. This move was in conflict with normal legal procedures according to which the imprisonment and appeal should have been held in Nouakchott, which led the activists to regard their detention in Aleg as ‘arbitrary’ and to boycott the appeal in protest.

We find it deeply disturbing that the Mauritanian authorities would choose to prosecute these innocent defenders of human rights, in flagrant violation of their rights to freedom of assembly and association, simply for their action against Mauritania’s deeply-rooted slavery system. Indeed, the Government should be actively engaged in this vital work, facilitating and supporting the role of civil society. It has instead chosen to target and punish civil society leaders, while slave-owners continue to enjoy total impunity. Mauritania’s array of measures to combat slavery, including a new anti-slavery law adopted just last week, has been revealed once again to be little more than a smokescreen to disguise the Government’s continued lack of action or will to end the practice.

The testimonies of people who have escaped slavery bear witness to systematic abuse, forced labour and the exercise of full ownership rights over them from birth. Yet despite an overwhelming body of evidence of the practice and at least 30 slavery cases before the courts, the Government continues to deny the existence of the slavery system, acknowledging only that the ‘legacy’ of the practice remains. A culture of denial and cover-up pervades Mauritania’s judicial system: the only slave-owner ever prosecuted for the crime (in 2011) was released on bail pending his appeal, which has never taken place. It is also deeply ironic that this slave-owner had received a prison sentence of just two years – the same sentence that the activists are now enduring for their work to combat slavery practices.

We call on you to recognise that no anti-slavery initiative from the Mauritanian government can be taken seriously as long as leaders in the anti-slavery movement continue to face this level of persecution for their work. We respectfully request that you make every effort to increase pressure on the Mauritanian authorities to cease its campaign against the activists and uphold their rights. We, the undersigned organisations, all actively supporting the anti-slavery movement in Mauritania, are at your disposal to provide any support or information to facilitate your efforts.

Independent watchdog group Freedom House issues statement on Mauritania: “It is the height of hypocrisy for the court in Mauritania to reaffirm these sentences against anti-slavery activists the same week that the government strengthened its laws against slavery,” said Mark P. Lagon, president of Freedom House and former U.S. Ambassador at large to combat human trafficking and slavery. “Civil society has an essential role in dismantling the practice of slavery in Mauritania, but the court's decision shows that the government is unwilling to match words with deeds to combat these pervasive human rights abuses.” For more details see https://freedomhouse.org/article/mauritania-court-upholds-imprisonment-anti-slavery-activitists#.VddbKZdCg2h

Abolition Institute Update: $5 million for anti-slavery programs in Mauritania and its region

The Abolition Institute received great news that our public education and awareness efforts on slavery in Mauritania are paying off.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has now approved $5 million in funding to address slavery in Mauritania and the region. This follows last year’s historic appropriation of $3 million for anti-slavery programs. It was an honor to be at the U.S. Embassy in Mauritania a few months ago to speak with our Ambassador Larry Andre about the work that the United States will be doing on this issue.

To make the good news even better, the Committee also approved $25 million for a new initiative to end modern slavery globally! Feel free to read the exact budget language at the conclusion of this update.

This is an excellent sign that policy makers are making a long term, continued investment in addressing slavery in Mauritania which the Global Slavery Index ranks as, indisputably, the nation with the highest percentage of its own people enslaved. It notes over 155,000 human beings are still held as slaves in Mauritania. Special thanks, as always, go to Members of Congress of both parties from the Land of Lincoln including U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and Representatives Peter Roskam and Jan Schakowsky. They deserve credit for standing up against the horrors of slavery and trafficking – both in the U.S. and abroad.

We also thank our outstanding London-based partner Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest international human rights organization. It was an honor to travel with them through Mauritania and see the wonderful work they are involved in. We will have more information to come in our next update, including information on our fall 2015 stakeholders meeting and the results of a new initiative highlighting the support of U.S. Muslim leaders for addressing slavery in Mauritania.

July 7, 2015. "Haratin: IRA-Mauritania Condemns Slave Arrest and Calls for Fair Judicial Process". Unrepresented Nations and People Organization. http://unpo.org/article/18353The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania (IRA) has reported that a 60 year old mute and physically disabled woman, Tislim mint Moulid, has been arrested along with her master Abdallahi ould Tghana. While her master was arrested as a slaveholder, the reason for Tislim mint Moulid's arrest was not clear.

November 18, 2014. “Millions Forced to Live as Slaves, a Human Rights Group Reports”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/world/millions-forced-to-live-as-slaves-a-human-rights-group-reports.htmlA report released by the Walk Free Foundation finds that 36 million people globally are enslaved, and Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Haiti, India and Qatar are the worst offenders. “The index defines slavery as the control or possession of people in such a way as to deprive them of their freedom with the intention of exploiting them for profit or sex, usually through violence or coercion”.

November 24, 2014. “Mauritania cracks down on land reform activists”. IRINnews.orghttp://www.irinnews.org/report/100868/mauritania-cracks-down-land-reform-activists​Several anti-slavery and land reform activists, including Biram Dah Abeid, president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) were arrested near the city of Rosso on the Senegalese border. The site of most of Mauritania’s agriculturally valuable land, the activists were rallying in favor of land reform to benefit former slaves in the Senegal River Valley. Despite a 2007 law banning the practice, the Mauritanian government fails to prosecute cases of slavery, and deep hierarchical divisions within Mauritanian society continue to exist.